The boys spent the afternoon attending their various classes, including leatherwork, orienteering, communications, rifle and shotgun shooting, geocaching, nature study, and Indian lore.
The camp facilities are quite nice and relatively new. The mess hall seats 500 and there is plenty of food and snacks to go around. We are making sure the boys stay hydrated and that they dont lose any of their gear. Overall everyone is doing great, heathy and happy. The boys are safe and sound. You know we are having a good camp when boys are voluntarily showering on the first day!
Day 2 at Camp Tifie was a blast. The weather up here has been amazing: sunny with beautiful blue skies all day, mid 80s, and cool but not uncomfortable nights. We are making sure the boys continue to stay very hydrated as well as using a lot of sunscreen to prevent burns. The boys have been very good about complying with our tedious rules
😄Today was merit badge class for a 3-hr morning block and 3-hr afternoon block. The boys have been experiencing a variety of activities, depending on what they registered to do while here. Today I saw our boys shooting rifles or shotguns at both stationary targets and flying clay pigeons, swimming for distance and also aquatic lifesaving techniques, leatherwork, birding, knots, lashings (the kind where you tie poles together, not the kind where you beat someone), as well as evening games of capture the flag.
All the boys are doing very well, eating plenty of food and snacks and drinking lots of liquid. We have had zero illness, zero conflict, and zero homesickness as of yet. In fact the only real injury in our troop has been a certain unnamed scoutmaster who may or may not have cut his finger while using his knife
😎
🔪These boys truly are some of the elect. I have seen them support one another while struggling through a difficult swim challenge, accept service assignments willingly, offer their leadership to the younger deacons so that the adults don’t have to do it all the time, share their precious candy when someone didn’t have any to eat, invite someone into the fire circle when they may have been standing a bit in the distance to themselves. I have been so happy to work with them as deacons and really look forward to seeing them become teachers. Love all these kids I just wish I had the energy to keep up with all of them.
Day 4
Today was a more challenging day for the troop. I believe the nature of the challenges is found in two simple realities: by this time of the week the boys are wrapping up merit badges, they may be growing tired of camp food, and everyone is getting antsy to return home. As such, we look to the older deacons to help mentor the younger ones. Also, BroSo gave us an inspirational thought that this is an opportunity to finish something that we started and finish strong.
The boys have responded well to that charge. Additionally, some new life has been injected into camp with the start of Deacons Encampment, which is a special program put on by our stake. We participate in group activities not dissimilar to the normal scout camp ones, but the stake also holds devotionals and focuses a bit more on the spiritual. Encampment started today and it has been great.
Activities included rifle and shotgun (Bro Jensen and BroSo are assassins with a shotgun), archery, spike ball, more capture the flag, an uplifting devotional in the evening followed by a movie night with huge inflatable screen, endless hot dogs and popcorn, and miles of red vines.
This being my first camp with the deacons, I have noticed the stamina required to get through camp or even to attempt it at all is not unlike what it will be like to serve a mission, albeit on a smaller scale. There will be great days, hard days, monotonous days in between, but weaved all throughout is a wonderful thread of blessings and opportunities for growth, resulting in a beautiful tapestry that you might not fully appreciate until you step back later and look at it from a distance.
Our boys are up to the task. They are good campers, they are all strong in their own way. Each boy in our quorum faces his own unique challenges in his personal life and I’ve been so impressed by how they handle it all while remaining so wonderful and amazing. two more days to go and I anticipate even more growth before Saturday.
Camp
is quickly coming to a close. I think it is fair to say that while we
have all really had a great week, we are also ready to come home to
family, familiar beds, warm showers (or in some cases any showers at all
😀).
These daily reports are growing in length as I spend less time thinking
about setting up tents or getting boys to class and more time pondering
the messages we are actually trying to teach our deacons. Gracias for
the patience to read through my ramblings.
The days events were very unique compared to the rest of our week. Day 2 of Deacons Encampment was focused almost entirely on team building/quorum strengthening activities. While the boys did enjoy some free time, most merit badge work has been completed so the main focus today was definitely Encampment.
In the morning we broke into groups, mixed in with other boys from our stake, and engaged in various activities meant to have the deacons work in groups, problem solve through situations, learn the value of trust, and also give opportunities to display leadership in order to complete tasks. One particular teamwork station was pretty cool: the ninja platform. This consisted of a large approximately 10’ x 10’ platform that was balanced like a seesaw. The entire platform was balanced with all members of the group simultaneously and the challenge was to figure out a way for every single person to exit the platform one at a time without the platform tipping out of balance and touching the ground. Initial strategies included giving up, claiming the task was impossible, or falling off the edge of the platform, thereby throwing it out of balance and angering everyone else remaining. But eventually leaders emerged, the boys started experimenting with more productive strategies, and as they grew closer and closer to a solution, their appetite for success through teamwork increased. When the final person successfully exited the platform, there was rejoicing. The camp counselor drew parallels to maintaining balance in our lives and the importance of the Holy Ghost, repentance, and reading the scriptures. While not disagreeing with those points, I personally didn’t see that as the main takeaway from that particular exercise. I made a comment to the group that life, like the ninja platform, will present challenges that do not appear to have obvious solutions. Often, solutions present themselves only after failure and a willingness to rely on others for help. As we exercise patience and long suffering, Heavenly Father blesses us with solutions to trials that we endure, often not understanding why. but the important thing is that almost always a solution exists. The challenge is to find it. After my profundity-laden soliloquy, the camp counselor said, “um, yes that’s a good one too. But don’t forget guys...balance.” Lol. Oh well, add her to the lengthy list of people that are waiting for me to shut up😄
Brayden taught a lesson in camp using the metaphor of the growth cycle of a pineapple and comparing it to how each individual testimony can grow likewise. Once the lesson was over, we ate all the delicious juicy testimonies that Brayden used as props in his lesson.
Brennan also taught a lesson using pool noodles and blindfolds as props to teach us the importance of relying on the spirit and coming unto Christ.
In the afternoon, we staged an epic battle in a large open field. First the boys constructed swords made from PVC and foam. We discussed the sword of Laban, the armies of helaman, and then headed down to the field for battle. Two large teams of boys engaged in basically a massive game of capture the flag was certainly a sight. As part of the game, each team had a “healer” that could heal wounded soldiers and allow them to re-enter battle. If your healer was killed you were out of luck for that round. Our deacons dominated the competition in a way that would have made William Wallace proud, minus the disembowelment and partial nudity. For once on this campout the boys were given the green light to run around recklessly, scream, hit each other, and engage in general acts of mayhem. They didn’t disappoint! Fortunately no deaths or injuries outside of wounded pride and battered egos.
After battle we gathered as a group and discussed the parallels between combat and the fight against Satan, battling temptation and sin with the weapons Heavenly Father has given, and the need to turn to the Healer in our lives to be healed from our spiritual wounds. This activity was one of the highlights of the week, everyone loved it. The boys were thrilled to be able to keep their foam swords so I’m warning families now to be prepared tomorrow to see a lot of foam combat in your homes tomorrow. As a somewhat humorous coda to that event, when we returned to camp Clark dug a hole and buried his sword. When I asked Clark if he was trying to emulate the Anti Nephi Lehis, he said “no me and Brennan just wanted to conduct a burial ceremony.”
😒
In the afternoon the stake conducted cardboard boat races at the pool. One project we have been working on this week is the construction of a makeshift boat using spare cardboard boxes. Our boys put together a craft they ignominiously dubbed “Titanic 2.” Trey and Dylan were chosen to pilot the ill-fated craft while Ashton and Clark helped launch it to start the race. We did really well, making it to the finals and finishing 4th out of 13 boats before the boat basically disintegrated into a liquified pulp and, much like its namesake, sunk to the bottom. Rather than yelling “I’m the king of the world!!” Trey and Dylan jumped out and swam away to safety.😄
We closed our evening off with a quorum campfire and testimony meeting. To get their attention we allows them to burn their patrol flags but then we dialed in to the important stuff. The boys were asked to share favorite camp experiences and/or their testimony. I won’t write down a lot here because of the personal nature of the activity but I will tell you this: parents, your boys get it. They understand the tenets of the gospel. They understand the importance of the Savior. Those lessons and FHEs are getting through. You may not think so, but it is working. Keep at it.
One side note but of great importance. BroSo has been serving in this calling for north of 8 years I believe and in that time he has mentored boys as deacons that are now coming home from missions. The impact he has had on our families is immeasurable. I have seen firsthand that at every campout and every event, our troop is always the most prepared, we have every eventuality covered because of Matt’s preparation and dedication to what is one of the most challenging callings in a ward. I feel a lot of gratitude for the ability to learn from him. He jokingly refers to himself as the crotchety old scout master but what I have seen is a priesthood holder that sincerely loves these boys and wants to help steer them down the right path as best he can. Really dig the chance to hang with Matt and count him not only as a friend but as a mentor for my own son.
I won’t have time to do an update tomorrow and we will be home before the day is done anyway. As camp wraps and I think upon the experience I just had, I’m struck by the realization that I barely know anything. Daily these young boys are teaching me things or challenging me to think about things in a different way, not just as a leader but as a parent in my own home. Their simple testimonies are powerful specifically because they are simple. Why do we complicate things so much as adults? In our youth’s actions I am reminded that while we may be quick to anger or to frustration, so should we be equally quick to forgive, to move forward, and to act kindly. Sometimes a simple “I know the church is true, amen” is all we need. It’s cool to look at others and not know nor care what our differences may be, let’s just be friends. The simplicity with which our youth approach their daily lives should often be the way we as adults look at things.
True, I may not know much, but my time in the Young Men group has made it crystal clear that I definitely know two things with absolute certainty:
One, Heavenly Father loves every single one of us. As individuals. He knows our weaknesses, He knows we are going to mess up a lot our entire life. Yet He is constantly putting us in positions to take those failures and turn them into successes, to become better people, to feel secure that we are actually doing a good job in our callings even when we feel like we aren’t doing nearly enough, to be great parents even when we can’t figure out our children on any given day if our lives depended on it. There are opportunities all around us everywhere everyday to serve and love others the way Heavenly Father loves us. If we cant see those myriad opportunities, it might be time to recalibrate our lenses a little bit. There are people out there everywhere that need something. Find them, Serve them, love them. Simple.
Two, these youth are amazing. That stands to reason because our children are extensions of ourselves and we are also pretty amazing. Yet despite their awesomeness the reality is that we have something they don’t: experience. Our job as stewards of these precious little dudes (and dude-ettes) is to equip them with the necessary tools to amass that experience in the right way. The youth - our kids - are our future church leaders. They are going to take care of us when we are old. They have their entire lives ahead of them but they need assistance. They need strong examples in their lives. They need mentoring both directly and indirectly from all of us. They need reliable leaders that love them despite their flaws and hold them accountable in a way that helps them grow rather than beats them down. In short, these kids need a whole lot of love. They desperately want to feel love, inclusion, and acceptance from their parents and peers. As I sit and type I suddenly feel overwhelmed by the crushing weight of responsibility that comes with these YM/YW callings: to just love them even when they drive you crazy, to be patient even when they disobey, to listen when it is way more tempting to speak.
This has been a fantastic week. Everyone should have the chance to experience what I have experienced. I’m leaving here with a new perspective and an increased love for these deacons and with a firm conviction that these boys can accomplish anything they want if they get the support and love they need. Thanks to all our YM families for raising such great young men. I’m really grateful for the chance to be a part of it all.
BroLo
😀).
These daily reports are growing in length as I spend less time thinking
about setting up tents or getting boys to class and more time pondering
the messages we are actually trying to teach our deacons. Gracias for
the patience to read through my ramblings.The days events were very unique compared to the rest of our week. Day 2 of Deacons Encampment was focused almost entirely on team building/quorum strengthening activities. While the boys did enjoy some free time, most merit badge work has been completed so the main focus today was definitely Encampment.
In the morning we broke into groups, mixed in with other boys from our stake, and engaged in various activities meant to have the deacons work in groups, problem solve through situations, learn the value of trust, and also give opportunities to display leadership in order to complete tasks. One particular teamwork station was pretty cool: the ninja platform. This consisted of a large approximately 10’ x 10’ platform that was balanced like a seesaw. The entire platform was balanced with all members of the group simultaneously and the challenge was to figure out a way for every single person to exit the platform one at a time without the platform tipping out of balance and touching the ground. Initial strategies included giving up, claiming the task was impossible, or falling off the edge of the platform, thereby throwing it out of balance and angering everyone else remaining. But eventually leaders emerged, the boys started experimenting with more productive strategies, and as they grew closer and closer to a solution, their appetite for success through teamwork increased. When the final person successfully exited the platform, there was rejoicing. The camp counselor drew parallels to maintaining balance in our lives and the importance of the Holy Ghost, repentance, and reading the scriptures. While not disagreeing with those points, I personally didn’t see that as the main takeaway from that particular exercise. I made a comment to the group that life, like the ninja platform, will present challenges that do not appear to have obvious solutions. Often, solutions present themselves only after failure and a willingness to rely on others for help. As we exercise patience and long suffering, Heavenly Father blesses us with solutions to trials that we endure, often not understanding why. but the important thing is that almost always a solution exists. The challenge is to find it. After my profundity-laden soliloquy, the camp counselor said, “um, yes that’s a good one too. But don’t forget guys...balance.” Lol. Oh well, add her to the lengthy list of people that are waiting for me to shut up
😄Brayden taught a lesson in camp using the metaphor of the growth cycle of a pineapple and comparing it to how each individual testimony can grow likewise. Once the lesson was over, we ate all the delicious juicy testimonies that Brayden used as props in his lesson.
Brennan also taught a lesson using pool noodles and blindfolds as props to teach us the importance of relying on the spirit and coming unto Christ.
In the afternoon, we staged an epic battle in a large open field. First the boys constructed swords made from PVC and foam. We discussed the sword of Laban, the armies of helaman, and then headed down to the field for battle. Two large teams of boys engaged in basically a massive game of capture the flag was certainly a sight. As part of the game, each team had a “healer” that could heal wounded soldiers and allow them to re-enter battle. If your healer was killed you were out of luck for that round. Our deacons dominated the competition in a way that would have made William Wallace proud, minus the disembowelment and partial nudity. For once on this campout the boys were given the green light to run around recklessly, scream, hit each other, and engage in general acts of mayhem. They didn’t disappoint! Fortunately no deaths or injuries outside of wounded pride and battered egos.
After battle we gathered as a group and discussed the parallels between combat and the fight against Satan, battling temptation and sin with the weapons Heavenly Father has given, and the need to turn to the Healer in our lives to be healed from our spiritual wounds. This activity was one of the highlights of the week, everyone loved it. The boys were thrilled to be able to keep their foam swords so I’m warning families now to be prepared tomorrow to see a lot of foam combat in your homes tomorrow. As a somewhat humorous coda to that event, when we returned to camp Clark dug a hole and buried his sword. When I asked Clark if he was trying to emulate the Anti Nephi Lehis, he said “no me and Brennan just wanted to conduct a burial ceremony.”
😒In the afternoon the stake conducted cardboard boat races at the pool. One project we have been working on this week is the construction of a makeshift boat using spare cardboard boxes. Our boys put together a craft they ignominiously dubbed “Titanic 2.” Trey and Dylan were chosen to pilot the ill-fated craft while Ashton and Clark helped launch it to start the race. We did really well, making it to the finals and finishing 4th out of 13 boats before the boat basically disintegrated into a liquified pulp and, much like its namesake, sunk to the bottom. Rather than yelling “I’m the king of the world!!” Trey and Dylan jumped out and swam away to safety.
😄We closed our evening off with a quorum campfire and testimony meeting. To get their attention we allows them to burn their patrol flags but then we dialed in to the important stuff. The boys were asked to share favorite camp experiences and/or their testimony. I won’t write down a lot here because of the personal nature of the activity but I will tell you this: parents, your boys get it. They understand the tenets of the gospel. They understand the importance of the Savior. Those lessons and FHEs are getting through. You may not think so, but it is working. Keep at it.
One side note but of great importance. BroSo has been serving in this calling for north of 8 years I believe and in that time he has mentored boys as deacons that are now coming home from missions. The impact he has had on our families is immeasurable. I have seen firsthand that at every campout and every event, our troop is always the most prepared, we have every eventuality covered because of Matt’s preparation and dedication to what is one of the most challenging callings in a ward. I feel a lot of gratitude for the ability to learn from him. He jokingly refers to himself as the crotchety old scout master but what I have seen is a priesthood holder that sincerely loves these boys and wants to help steer them down the right path as best he can. Really dig the chance to hang with Matt and count him not only as a friend but as a mentor for my own son.
I won’t have time to do an update tomorrow and we will be home before the day is done anyway. As camp wraps and I think upon the experience I just had, I’m struck by the realization that I barely know anything. Daily these young boys are teaching me things or challenging me to think about things in a different way, not just as a leader but as a parent in my own home. Their simple testimonies are powerful specifically because they are simple. Why do we complicate things so much as adults? In our youth’s actions I am reminded that while we may be quick to anger or to frustration, so should we be equally quick to forgive, to move forward, and to act kindly. Sometimes a simple “I know the church is true, amen” is all we need. It’s cool to look at others and not know nor care what our differences may be, let’s just be friends. The simplicity with which our youth approach their daily lives should often be the way we as adults look at things.
True, I may not know much, but my time in the Young Men group has made it crystal clear that I definitely know two things with absolute certainty:
One, Heavenly Father loves every single one of us. As individuals. He knows our weaknesses, He knows we are going to mess up a lot our entire life. Yet He is constantly putting us in positions to take those failures and turn them into successes, to become better people, to feel secure that we are actually doing a good job in our callings even when we feel like we aren’t doing nearly enough, to be great parents even when we can’t figure out our children on any given day if our lives depended on it. There are opportunities all around us everywhere everyday to serve and love others the way Heavenly Father loves us. If we cant see those myriad opportunities, it might be time to recalibrate our lenses a little bit. There are people out there everywhere that need something. Find them, Serve them, love them. Simple.
Two, these youth are amazing. That stands to reason because our children are extensions of ourselves and we are also pretty amazing. Yet despite their awesomeness the reality is that we have something they don’t: experience. Our job as stewards of these precious little dudes (and dude-ettes) is to equip them with the necessary tools to amass that experience in the right way. The youth - our kids - are our future church leaders. They are going to take care of us when we are old. They have their entire lives ahead of them but they need assistance. They need strong examples in their lives. They need mentoring both directly and indirectly from all of us. They need reliable leaders that love them despite their flaws and hold them accountable in a way that helps them grow rather than beats them down. In short, these kids need a whole lot of love. They desperately want to feel love, inclusion, and acceptance from their parents and peers. As I sit and type I suddenly feel overwhelmed by the crushing weight of responsibility that comes with these YM/YW callings: to just love them even when they drive you crazy, to be patient even when they disobey, to listen when it is way more tempting to speak.
This has been a fantastic week. Everyone should have the chance to experience what I have experienced. I’m leaving here with a new perspective and an increased love for these deacons and with a firm conviction that these boys can accomplish anything they want if they get the support and love they need. Thanks to all our YM families for raising such great young men. I’m really grateful for the chance to be a part of it all.
BroLo
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